Owners Emma Taft and Simon Shepherdson were distraught when they discovered the extent of the trauma to their two female cats, Freya and Isis

A callous gunman shot at two cats in Earl Shilton, injuring one just below the eye and blinding the other. Police are appealing for help in tracking down the culprit. Black and white three-year-old rescue cat Isis needed her right eye removing after being shot in the eye with a gun pellet.

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A callous gunman blinded one rescue cat and injured another in a shooting spree in Earl Shilton. Police are warning people to be vigilant and are appealing for any information in a bid to catch the culprit before he maims - or kills - any more family pets.

Owners Emma Taft and Simon Shepherdson were distraught when they discovered the extent of the trauma to their two female cats, Freya and Isis.

The couple, who have only recently moved to the Heath Lane area of the town, adopted the cats from the RSPCA last August, are hoping that raising awareness of the incident will help bring the sniper to justice and prevent anyone else suffering the same heartache.

Emma, 41, an accounts manager, said: “It is sad to know that a vile individual believes it’s acceptable to shoot cats in their eyes and can be so cruel to defenceless animals. This was not an accident, this was someone deliberating, maliciously aiming for their eyes.”

“To me this is sick. I’m just really angry to think someone should be so evil.”

A callous gunman shot at two cats in Earl Shilton, injuring one just below the eye and blinding the other. Police are appealing for help in tracking down the culprit. Two-year-old Freya was lucky not to be more seriously injured after being shot.

It is thought the gunman struck sometime around the end of May, although the awful truth of the scale of the attack only came to light later.

Trouble began around May 26 when Freya, a two-year-old tabby-tortoiseshell cross, returned home with a cut under her eye and swollen cheek.

As she didn’t appear to be in any major discomfort and thinking she had merely caught her face on brambles or been in a fight Emma and Simon decided to keep a check on her but were not overly concerned.

Then Isis, a three-year-old black and white shorthair, came back crying with blood dripping from her right eye. Again the couple thought she had been scratched by bushes or been fighting and after visiting a local vet were given medication to treat the wound.

Emma recalled: “When we took Isis back two weeks later the vet said something wasn’t right and it looked like she had a foreign object in her eye. We were referred to a specialist in Solihull and as Freya and Isis never like to be apart we took them both.

“The vet told us Isis had received such a trauma to the eye it would need removing. He also looked at Freya and said it appeared she had been shot.

“When he X-rayed them both it confirmed his fears about Freya and with Isis he could see the pellet still lodged at the back of her eye socket. Obviously we were both so upset, how could someone do this?”

A callous gunman shot at two cats in Earl Shilton, injuring one just below the eye and blinding the other. Police are appealing for help in tracking down the culprit. Freya, a tortie-tabby and Isis, black and white, who were both hit by gun pellets in the face.

The vet performed the surgery that afternoon, removing Isis’ right eye. Emma and Simon are now in the process of cat-proofing their garden and are keeping Freya and Isis in the house until it is finished.

The pellet has been turned over to the police for potential ballistic examination.

Anyone with information can call 101 or freephone, anonymous tip-off line Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.